Coalition for Coastal Resilience and Economy (CCRE): Ecosystem Restoration Is Economic Development
As Chairman of the Coalition for Coastal Resilience and Economy (CCRE), I wanted to take a moment to introduce the coalition and give an update about the traction we’ve made in our first year. Launched in July 2014 by the economic development organization Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.), CCRE is a business-led coalition tasked with creating an educated, informed voice of advocacy for sustainable restoration efforts in Louisiana’s wetlands, rivers, deltas, and coastline. It is made up of non-partisan, Southeastern Louisiana business leaders that believe investing in smart restoration today will ensure continuing economic opportunities in the future. CCRE will advocate for policies that promote, protect and drive resources to Louisiana’s coast.
RESTORE Act Meeting – August 2014
In the last year, CCRE members and I have participated in several unique coastal experiences, including seaplane and boat tours of Louisiana’s coastline, designed to increase awareness of the needs, opportunities and plans for coastal protection and restoration. We’ve met with government officials, including U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise, to collaborate and discuss the most effective ways to utilize RESTORE Act funds to revive and protect Louisiana’s wetlands and coastline. As we approach the Katrina Anniversary, coastal restoration and resilience is bound to be a part of the media coverage about the region’s recovery over the last ten years. In fact, there was a terrific piece in the New York Times recently “How to Save a Sinking Coast: Katrina Created a Laboratory.” To ensure that the narrative around coastal issues is appropriately framed—furthering the region’s position as an international leader in resiliency and restoration—GNO, Inc., on behalf of the CCRE, is reaching proactively to media via coastal overflights, interviews and panel briefings. Also, GNO, Inc. Chairman Michael Hecht and I penned a Letter to the Editor and submitted it to the New York Times, providing additional context to the recent John Barry story, “Is New Orleans Safe?” Restoring the wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico coastline is arguably the region’s most pressing environmental and economic issue. With the coming influx of funding from the RESTORE Act and other oil spill-related settlements, CCRE has a unique opportunity to ensure the continued prosperity and sustainability of Southeast Louisiana. Now is the perfect time to implement smart, long-lasting solutions to improve the coastline, communities and economy. I am excited about the role the business community will play in this effort.
Stirling Properties Announces Latest Investment Sale in Mobile, Alabama
Stirling Properties’ agents Justin Toomey and Andrew Dickman recently completed the sale of a 100,000 square-foot United States Postal Service facility in Mobile, Alabama. The industrial distribution warehouse, located at 4538 Shipyard Road, was sold for $3.1 Million on Friday, July 31, 2015. Justin and Andrew represented the seller, Alabama Gulfstar, LLC and a local Mobile based investor group with the acquisition.
For more information regarding investment sales, leasing opportunities or any of your real estate needs contact Stirling Properties at 251-375-2495 or visit www.stirlingproperties.com.
Louisiana Continues to be Recognized in National Rankings
As the International Council of Shopping Center’s (ICSC’s) State Director for Louisiana, I recently contributed an article for our Quarterly Membership Newsletter that I’d like to share:
Louisiana State Director’s Message – Summer 2015
I have written many times in recent newsletters about Louisiana’s economic development growth and I can’t help myself but to continue to report the good news. Our State continues to be on an unprecedented roll for economic growth and diversification that is really changing our trajectory in a way that is having extreme benefits on our industry, our career, our families and our long term well-being. The progress and growth is not going unnoticed, this summer’s publications have bestowed some significant rankings and milestones.
For the 6th straight year, Southern Business and Development has ranked Louisiana #1 among Southern states for attracting the most significant capital investment and job-creation projects per million residents. In the State of the Year category, Louisiana earned honorable mention. While not receiving State of the Year this year, Louisiana has earned State or Co-State of the Year honors in five of the past seven years. In addition our cities are being recognized individually as well.
- 2015 Small Market of the Year (Pop < 250K) – Lake Charles
- Honorable Mention – Houma-Thibodaux
- 2015 Major Market of the Year (Pop 750K – 2M)
- Honorable Mentions – New Orleans & Baton Rouge
- 2015 Mid-Market of the Year (Pop 250K – 750K)
- Honorable Mention – Shreveport
In June Area Development magazine awarded Louisiana the 2015 Silver Shovel Award (Pop 3M to 5M category) for posting one of the best economic development performances in the U.S. during the past year. The awards honor states with the most significant impact from their 10 leading investment and job creation projects during 2014. This is our State’s 6th year in a row earning a Silver Shovel Award.
In May Chief Executive magazine honored Louisiana with its highest ranking ever in its CEO survey of state business climates, ranking #7 on Best & Worst States for Business. This is up 40 positions since January 2008, representing the greatest improvement of any state in that time period. Additionally, Site Selection magazine picked Louisiana No. 2 in U.S. for economic development competitiveness in 2014 with 7 of the top 10 states located in the Southeast, which points to the region’s sustained competitiveness over the past decade.
All of this just a decade after most of the nation had written Louisiana off for dead following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the summer of 2005, quite remarkable to say the least. This is not only encouraging for our personal businesses but also inspiring for the business community in our State. I see the retail industry as a huge beneficiary of this success during this past decade with even brighter days ahead.
Mayor Drennan, LADOTD, and Stirling Properties Celebrate Opening of Town Center Parkway in Slidell, Louisiana
Today, Mayor Freddy Drennan joined representatives from the Louisiana Department of Transportation (LADOTD), Omni Pinnacle and Stirling Properties to celebrate the opening of Town Center Parkway in Slidell, Louisiana.
Town Center Parkway now connects two of Slidell’s Interstate 10 interchanges, Old Spanish Trail through Fremaux Town Center to Fremaux Avenue.
“The opening of the Town Center Parkway is a great benefit to our citizens as it provides easier access to Fremaux Town Center and other undeveloped properties. It is another main thoroughfare that connects north and south Slidell,” said Slidell Mayor Freddy Drennan. “I would like to thank Omni Pinnacle as the contractor for this project and Stirling Properties, the Louisiana Department of Transportation, Regional Planning Commission and Development and St. Tammany Parish Government for their assistance.”
LADOTD District 62 Administrator Allison Schilling added, “I am pleased that this much needed project, which connects US 190 Business to LA 433 is complete. It is so important that we continue to move forward with infrastructure projects that help drive economic development throughout our region.”
The completion of Town Center Parkway also opens up an additional 200 acres for development to compliment Fremaux Town Center including retail, office, residential and hospitality. For more information regarding the development please contact Dan Tate at dtate@stirlingprop.com or 504-523-4481.
Never Cross the Streams, It Would Be Bad
Just as with proton streams when battling apparitions, banshees, phantoms or poltergeists, you don’t ever want to cross your store’s wifi with your public wifi.
What’s the issue? We have a perfectly good Internet connection that we use for our business computers, cash registers and automation systems, why not open it up to the public so that we can attract more business to our store? Really, you’re just trying to enrich the cable companies by making us buy another Internet connection for our customers. And the national outfit that wants the contract to install public wifi at our mall says that they can firewall the public wifi from our business cash registers without a problem. Cross their collective hearts and hope to die, they do this all the time and they never have a problem.
The first issue is that the sales lady from that national outfit would probably throw her own mother under the bus to get you to sign the contract. The second issue is that firewalls are software with vulnerabilities that can be hacked – firewalls are better than nothing, but it’s not something that Stirling uses to protect our corporate network from a public wifi on a shared Internet connection.
By crossing your business Internet with public wifi, the only thing you’re really accomplishing is providing a road map for someone to sit in the parking lot and hack your business. In this bold new world of interconnectivity that we live in, it’s simply safer and easier to calculate the cost of a dedicated Internet connection for your public wifi upfront before providing public wifi in your business, store or mall.
Stirling Properties Completes its First Retail Development in Lake Charles, Louisiana
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce the completion of their first retail development in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Academy Sports + Outdoors was relocated to its new location on Derek Drive, adding an additional 22,000 square-feet to the store. The new 72,000 square-foot store was expanded to meet the demand of the growing Lake Charles community.
All of the land surrounding the larger Academy Sports + Outdoors is currently available for sale or lease. For more information please contact Ryan Pecot, Senior Leasing Executive, at rpecot@stirlingprop.com or 337-572-0246.
Stirling Properties announces a new Tom Thumb development planned for […]
Commercial real estate today is extremely dynamic. Under “normal” circumstances, […]
